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'Cummins should play in all 3 formats'

Neil Maxwell, Pat Cummins\' agent said that it was too early to pigeonhole the Aussie pacer.

Sydney: Australia's new pace sensation Pat Cummins' agent is unhappy with captain Michael Clarke not being in favour of the fast bowler playing in all forms of cricket to save him from early burnout.

"We've got to be smart. I don't think it's possible for Patty right now to play all forms of the game for Australia," Clarke said.

Neil Maxwell, the businessman hired to manage the affairs of Cummins, disagrees, arguing it is too early in the young speedster's career to shut him out from one format or another.

"He's played one Test match, one Twenty20 and a couple of ODIs. I think it's way too premature to even start thinking about that," Maxwell was quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"He's got to find a niche and he's not going to know what that niche is until he's experienced all forms of the game. Time will tell but at this point I think he should be allowed (to play all three). Just like a young kid starting out, you want them to bowl, bat and wicket keep. You don't want to limit them to anything until you better understand what their strengths are."

Due to a bruised heel, Cummins won't play in Australia's first Test against New Zealand, starting in Brisbane on Thursday, but Maxwell is adamant he should be considered for all forms of the game for Australia this summer.

"At the end of the day, my job is not to guide him in cricket," Maxwell said. "My job is to provide him with an infrastructure that allows him to be able to play cricket to the best that he can. I don't want to encroach too far into the area but my view as a cricketer would be that it's way too early to start pigeonholing somebody like him," Maxwell said.